


Geralt Talks

by tupti



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Gentle Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia Says "Hmm", Hurt Jaskier | Dandelion, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Protective Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Soft Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:47:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22938112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tupti/pseuds/tupti
Summary: Jaskier gets hurt and the only thing that can soothe him is Geralt’s voice.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 20
Kudos: 594





	Geralt Talks

They had attacked out of nowhere. All that Geralt could do was to push Jaskier behind him and tear into them with every ounce of strength he had to give. He didn’t even know what they were, but he learned that they didn’t yield easily. It was chaos. He fought mercilessly, but it seemed to take forever until these monsters finally realised that they would not survive the Witcher’s wrath and fled back into the woods.

He lowered his sword and turned around to check whether they had truly disappeared.

All he found was Jaskier.

Jaskier lying on the ground, bleeding, his gaze restlessly flitting around. His breath was ragged, his chest rose and fell heavily.

“Shit.” Geralt went down on his knees next to him. There was so much blood on the side of his torso that he couldn’t even see the wound properly. “Jaskier.”

The bard’s eyes focused on Geralt’s face when he heard him say his name. He moved his mouth as if he tried to talk, but he couldn’t. His head rolled back, his gaze lost focus again.

“Shit!”

Geralt picked him up as if he didn’t weigh a thing. At their normal pace it would have been another half day’s journey to the castle where Yennefer currently resided. With Roach at full speed, Jaskier in the saddle in front of him, he made it in two hours.

* * *

“I’m not his personal nurse, you know.” Yennefer ushered them into a bedroom. Even while she was complaining about treating the bard _again_ , she gathered herbs, candles and bowls and got to work.

Geralt gently lowered Jaskier down on a table in the middle of the room. The bard’s gaze was still wandering aimlessly, he looked more in shock than in pain.

Until Yen put her hands on him.

He made a sound deep in his throat that Geralt had never heard of him before and started to writhe and flail around. He almost hit Yen in the face.

“Damnit! Keep him still, Witcher!”

Geralt grabbed Jaskier’s wrists and pinned them down on the table, but the panic in his friend’s eyes remained. The Witcher couldn’t get a hold on all of his limbs at the same time, so the bard kicked his legs at Yen. At the last moment she backed away.

“Jaskier!”

Like in the woods, Geralt’s voice seemed to focus the bard’s wandering mind. He looked at the Witcher – really looked – and calmed down immediately.

“Gods, the things I do for you”, Yen sighed. “Keep talking to him.”

“What should I say?”

“I don’t care. But your voice calms him down, so talk! It’s not as hard as you might think.”

Geralt furrowed his brow. Easy for someone like her to say. But she was right, loathe as he was to admit it, so he cleared his throat nervously.

“Jaskier”, he growled. “Look at me.” The bard did.

Carefully, Yen resumed her treatment. Jaskier winced, but before he could do anything else, Geralt called his name again, softly this time. He still held the bards’ wrists in his hands and he loosened the grip a little, just kept his fingers lightly touching.

“You need to let her treat you, okay? She’ll make you better, I promise.” Geralt paused. Mindless rambling was definitely not one of his strong suits. He had to think about what to say next, but there was no time for that. The bard was already getting anxious again. 

“Jaskier.” His name worked like a charm. “Jaskier.” In all their years together Geralt probably hadn’t spoken his name that often. It sounded nice, he thought, it rolled comfortably from his tongue. “Jaskier. Stay with me. Do you hear me? I need you to stay with me. The road will become a lot more unbearable with you gone.”

Jaskier stared at Geralt intensely as if he absorbed every single word he heard. The Witcher uncomfortably dropped his gaze and fidgeted with his fingers along the skin of Jaskier’s wrists. What to say? What was there to talk about?

“I have been rude to you in the past, I know that”, he admitted. Now that Jaskier’s life was in danger, every mean word he ever sad to him came rushing back to his memory. “I never apologized for calling your singing a pie with no filling. It’s not true. I never apologized for... for so many things. Jaskier…” He paused and met the bard’s eyes again. It took all his courage to speak what was on his mind. “You’re a good friend and a loyal companion. I will be nicer to you, but you need to survive this, okay? Please, Jaskier.”

He didn’t see what Yen was doing, but whatever it was, it caused the bard a sudden burst of pain. His breathing got heavy and his eyes rolled back in their sockets. Geralt gingerly pushed his hair back from his sweaty forehead. 

“Shhh, Jaskier… It will be alright. You’ll be alright. Look at me.” Once more, the bard obeyed willingly, while he clumsily grabbed for Geralt’s arm. The Witcher caught Jaskier’s hand in his and pulled it to his own chest. “Calm down. You’re safe with me, you know that, right?” 

The bard nodded ever so slightly, his gaze unwaveringly fixed on Geralt. 

“I’ll keep you safe, I promise. Jaskier…”

“It’s done.” Yen took a step back. “He should be able to sleep now.”

Geralt nodded. He slowly pulled his hands away from the bard, so he could take him in his arms and carry him over to the bed. Jaskier grabbed onto him for dear life and buried his face in the Witcher’s chest. As gently as he could, Geralt laid him down on the mattress. When he took a step back, Jaskier tried to talk again – in vain.

“The medicine needs time to take effect”, Yen whispered. “Stay with him”.

Geralt looked at Jaskier: so helpless, so vulnerable. He didn’t know what to do now. Jaskier was still uneasy. Did he imagine it or did the bard try to mouth his name? Carefully, he sat down next to him and pulled the blanket over his body, tucked it around his shoulders. His dark hair had fallen in his face again and Geralt gently brushed it aside. “Go to sleep now. I’ll be here when you wake up, I promise, Jaskier.”

The bard breathed deeply, then he let his lids drop over his eyes and just seconds later he drifted off.

Geralt remained by his side. “Will he survive?”

Yen paused in clearing away the used bowls and bottles. “Most likely.”

“Hmm.”

She walked over to the Witcher to lean against the bed post at the head end, then she crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked Geralt over.

“You spoke more words today than in the average year.”

“Hm.”

She scoffed. “You really care for the little lark, don’t you? He crept under that armour and into you heart. Beats me, why. He’s weak, he’s foolish, he’s… so human.”

Geralt growled softly. “Maybe I like that about him.”

“Why?” There were no teasing undertones in her voice this time. It was an honest question. “Why have somebody around who constantly reminds you of your own monstrosity?”

Geralt paused, then almost smiled. “He doesn’t. He reminds me of my humanity.”

Yen pushed herself off the bed post and resumed her work of tidying up. “Well then. Lucky you.”

* * *

He did make it. Whatever Yennefer had done, it made Jaskier his healthy, chipper self again by sunrise.

“Have you slept at all, Geralt?”

The Witcher jerked his head up at the sound of his friend’s voice.

“Jaskier.”

The bard smiled. Gingerly he curled his fingers around Geralt’s. The Witcher looked down on their joined hands and frowned in surprise, but he let it happen. “I like it when you say my name.”

“Hmm.”

Jaskier laughed. “Have you spent all your words on me tonight?” He quickly became serious again and gripped Geralt’s hands just a little bit tighter. “I have to thank you. I’m not exactly sure what happened, but I know that you talked to me. I had some sort of nightmare or vision or… I don’t know. Your voice kept guiding me back to what was real. To you. I wouldn’t have survived this without you.”

The Witcher lowered his head. “Hm.”

“It’s true!” Jaskier sat up. He cupped Geralt’s cheek with one hand and forced him to look him in the eyes. “You said the nicest things.”

“Hm.”

Jaskier laughed, then he leaned forward and kissed Geralt lightly on the lips. The Witcher froze for a moment and Jaskier pulled back, worry on his face. Geralt tilted his head to the side. He eyed the bard up and, to his own amazement, felt a smile tug at the corner of his lips. Gently, he gripped Jaskier’s lapels and pulled him forward again, so that he could press a kiss to his lips in return.

At least that way he didn’t have to talk.


End file.
